These lemon curd cookies are ultra soft cream cheese cookies dusted with powdered sugar and filled with a tart lemon curd.

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These lemon curd cookies are the most delicious spring cookie! They're made with a metl-in-your-mouth cream cheese cookie dusted with powdered sugar and filled with a sweet, tart homemade lemon curd. If you're a fan of lemon pie or lemon bars, you're going to LOVE these!
Ingredients
- Flour: Be sure to use high-quality unbleached all-purpose flour and weigh it out with a scale to exactly 280g!
- Leavening: You'll need baking powder and baking soda for the cookie dough, and cornstarch for the lemon curd
- Butter: You'll need 1 ½ sticks total for the cookies and curd.
- Cream Cheese: For the cookies, you'll need one block of full fat cream cheese.
- Sugars: Granulated sugar is added to both the curd and the cookie dough, and powdered sugar is needed for rolling the cookie dough and sprinkling after they're baked.
- Eggs: The curd requires 5 egg yolk, and the cookies require 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk.
- Lemons: You'll need the juice from about 3 large lemons.
Instructions
Step 1: Make the lemon curd, then chill for at least two hours or overnight.
Step 2: Make the cookies, by creaming together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar.
Step 3: Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and mix until fully combined.
Step 4: Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Step 5: Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough. Roll each in your hands, then in the powdered sugar, and place on the baking sheet. Flatten them out slightly, then bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Step 6: Once the cookies come out of the oven, immediately press a 1 tablespoon spoon into the centers of each cookie. Allow the cookies to cool completely before sprinkling with powdered sugar and filling with lemon curd.
FAQ
Store these cookie is the fridge for about 3-5 days.
Store leftover lemon curd in the fridge for up to one week.
- Saucepan: You'll need a small saucepan to make the lemon curd.
- Electric mixer: A stand mixer or a hand-held electric mixer is needed to properly cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar together.
- Parchment paper: To avoid the cookies sticking, line each baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Kitchen scale: You'll need a kitchen scale to weigh all of your ingredients (read why below)!
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Baking in grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed to create incredibly delicious baked goods that you can easily recreate in your own kitchen with success. The only way this is possible is to standardize the way ingredients are measured - by weight. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), I can ensure that you can make the recipe accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Print📖 Recipe
Lemon Curd Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 12 minutes
- Yield: 20 cookies 1x
- Category: cookies
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These lemon curd cookies are ultra soft cream cheese cookies dusted with powdered sugar and filled with a tart lemon curd.
Ingredients
For the lemon curd:
- 150g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 14g (1 tbsp + 2 tsp) cornstarch
- ½ tsp salt
- 56g (¼ cup; ½ stick) unsalted butter
- 150g (¾ cup) fresh lemon juice (from about 3 large lemons)
- 5 egg yolks
For the cream cheese cookies:
- 280g (2 ⅓ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 113g (½ cup; 1 stick) unsalted butter (room temp)
- 8 oz (1 block) cream cheese (room temp)
- 200g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 56g (½ cup) powdered sugar (for rolling and sprinkling)
Instructions
For the lemon curd:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt until no lumps remain.
- In a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, melt the butter.
- Whisk in the sugar mixture, then the lemon juice and egg yolks until fully combined, about 1 minute.
- Use a rubber spatula to constantly stir the mixture for another 2-3 minutes or until large bubbles form in the center. Immediately remove from heat.
- Strain the lemon curd into a bowl. Press plastic wrap up against the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
For the cream cheese cookies:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar together for about 2-3 minutes on medium speed.
- Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and mix until fully combined.
- Lastly, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Once the dough has chilled, use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough.
- Roll each cookie dough ball in your hands, then roll in the powdered sugar and place on the baking sheet spaced about 2 inches apart.
- Flatten the cookie dough out slightly (as pictured above) and bake for about 12 minutes.
- Once the cookies come out of the oven, immediately press the centers with the back of a 1 tablespoon spoon.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet.
For assembly:
- Once the cookies are cool, sprinkle each of them with powdered sugar.
- Add a dollop of lemon curd to the centers of each cookie and serve!
Notes
- Store these cookie is the fridge for about 3-5 days.
- Store any leftover lemon curd in the fridge for up to one week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 255
- Sugar: 20.9 g
- Sodium: 175.6 mg
- Fat: 12.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 33.2 g
- Protein: 3.4 g
- Cholesterol: 94.3 mg
Keywords: lemon curd cookies, lemon curd thumbprint cookies, cream cheese cookies, lemon cookies with powdered sugar, tart lemon curd
Shawn Scheer says
How long can you keep the cookie raw cookie dough in fridge before baking
Sloane says
No more than 2 days, however you could portion the cookie dough and freeze them. Just let them come to room temperature before baking!
Deb says
These are so easy to make and are delicious! We love anything lemon and both the hubs and I loved them. I also used cherry preserves in a few but lemon is the best. You won’t be disappointed. We plan to try some of her other recipes as well. Enjoy!
★★★★★
Leah says
Truly a delicious cookie , filled with the most perfect pair of lemon curd. These cookies are so soft and chewy , and scream spring!
★★★★★
Farrell says
Can you freeze them?
Sloane says
You can freeze the baked cookies without the lemon curd! I would not recommend freezing lemon curd.
Jessica says
What is og vs. g in measurements? I’ve never heard of og
Jocelyn says
Looking at the recipe, I think it is meant to be read as 150 grams 🙂
Emma says
If you love lemon, cream cheese and a perfect balance between tart and sweet then definitely give these a go! They were a big hit with my work colleagues and partner - so delicious and they look super cute too. Very easy recipe to make and follow.
★★★★★
Marcy says
I had to add more flour as the dough was super sticky but it’s a humid summer here in Virginia. They turned out perfectly and everyone at work loved them.
★★★★★